Integral Powertrain is proud to announce that its e-Drive division has received the Professional Motorsport WORLD EXPO’s Motorsport Technology of the Year award on Wednesday 7th November 2018. The presentation was made in front of an international audience of Motorsport’s elite in Cologne.

Background to the award

The Motorsport Technology of the Year award was presented to Integral Powertrain Limited for the development of the integrated electric motors and inverters which power the 2018 Volkswagen Motorsport I.D. R Pikes Peak record breaking car.

Integral e-Drive designed and manufactured the highly efficient and exceptionally power-dense integrated motors and inverters which powered the Pikes Peak car to outright victory and a new all-time and all comers’ record at the 2018 event. The electric car proved faster than any internal combustion engine (ICE) car and set the fastest time in the hill climb history, which spans more than 100 years. Weeks later the Pikes Peak car won the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hill Climb Shoot-Out, shattering the all-time record for electric cars. Romain Dumas set a time that is the third best for any car at Goodwood including race bred Formula One cars and World Championship drivers.

With an impressive track record in powertrain engineering, Milton Keynes based Integral Powertrain, has the ability to engineer electric motor technologies for the most demanding of applications. The Volkswagen Motorsport I.D. R Pikes Peak car, developed in less than 5 months, is at the leading edge. It demonstrates the astonishing capabilities of the next generation of electrification technology that is being delivered today by Integral Powertrain.

At the award ceremony

Andrew Charman, on behalf of the judging panel, said of the award:

“The performance of the I.D. R inverter and motor system from Integral Powertrain surpassed all expectations and clearly demonstrated the performance capabilities of electric powertrains, as well as the potential environmental savings.“

Receiving the Motorsport Technology of the Year award with his colleagues, Arnaud Martin, Chief Engineer Motorsport of Integral Powertrain said:

“I would like to thank the committee for granting us the privilege of this award. The Integral Powertrain team with its exquisite understanding of physics has managed to bring electric motors to power densities and efficiencies that could only be dreamed off a few years ago. It is by pushing boundaries in motorsport that we make our automotive products better than the rest. Integral Powertrain was very lucky to find in VW motorsport a similar minded partner, not only ready to use our technology, but above all allow us to talk about it. Integral is more than often a white good used by others. On behalf of Integral thank you VW motorsport. The relationship with VW made it an absolute pleasure to be involved on this project despite the stress level of developing such an advanced race car within a 4½ month period; this was no mean feat.”

In a year which marks Integral Powertrain’s 20th anniversary, the Motorsport Technology of the Year Award joins the Royal Automobile Club’s Dewar Trophy to cap off a very successful year for the Milton Keynes based company.

Track to Road

Integral e-Drive recently announced their collaboration with Williams Advanced Engineering as e-Drive technology partner for the first all-electric Aston Martin Rapide E. Taking lessons learnt in the innovative Motorsport arena to enhance e-Mobility under its ‘Track to Road’ programme Integral e-Drive is able to offer immediate and world leading technology to large OEM’s.

The limited production of 155 cars will be built at Aston Martin’s new St. Athan site. It will deliver four-door sports car looks and the dynamics of the Rapide S powered by an all-electric powertrain that replaces the six-litre V12 engine.

Pikes Peak Motor Specifications

The total power output of the VW I.D R stands at over 500kW, split between front and rear motors. Due to the extremely short timeframe, Integral Powertrain applied its core technology enabling it to quickly scale existing frame sizes whilst still achieving outstanding power density and efficiency. The specifications of the motors are impressive. The front motor weighs just 19.5kg, producing 280Nm of torque, a peak power of greater than 270kW and continuous output of 170kW; when coupled with the inverter, the total package weighs in at 25kg. The rear motor (including inverter) is only 5kg heavier yet is able to produce 460Nm of torque with a peak power of 280kW in the car, and more importantly, its continuous power output can be as high as 215kW.

The Aston Martin Rapid E will use two electric motors driving the rear wheels. These motors also deliver world leading technology for a road car application, with a peak efficiency of over 98% and torque density greater 17 Nm/kg, giving rated power and torque of 460 kW and 950 Nm respectively. The motors were already in development for Aston Martin prior to selection of the technology for the VW I.D.R Pikes Peak project.

The Motorsport Technology of the Year Award

The award is made by an exclusive judging panel of more than 20 leading Motorsport journalists.

Nominees for the Motorsport Technology of the Year 2018:-

MD20 from Motordrive Seats

VW I.D. R inverter and motor from Integral Powertrain

The CCW MKII steering wheel from Cosworth

RLU data logger from Cosworth

ECP 160 Electric Coolant Pump from Bosch Motorsport

F-POD Intelligent Race Fuel Bowser from EEC Performance Systems

PowerRibs from Bcomp

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